Leadership isn’t just about making decisions or setting a vision – it’s about lifting others up. It’s about creating the space for people to grow, to take ownership, and truly shine.
An enabling leader doesn’t just empower; they open doors, make connections, and create possibilities that outlast them.
This month, let’s explore what it really means to enable others – whether by recognising their contributions, helping them take a bold new step, or simply being the person who sees their potential before they do.
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This month's nugget
How can you develop the enabling leader within you?
So far, we’ve discussed authenticity and curiosity in inspiring leadership. Being a great leader is also about enabling your team. An enabling leader empowers their team to be their best and ensures their contributions are recognised. Visibility leads to better opportunities, stronger engagement, and long-term success for your team, organisation, and yourself.
This month's nugget focuses on visibility. Choose one moment this month to highlight the contribution of a team member or the team as a whole. There are many ways you can do this: share their success in a meeting, through an email to the executive leadership team, or via the organisation's communication channel. Be specific: show how their work directly supports your organisation's purpose.
Leadership nudges
The mark you leave
“Picture your last day at work. As you pack your desk, you’re not just collecting objects but memories – the footprint you leave behind.”
I highly recommend reading this very thoughtful article from Gustavo Razzetti.
Most leaders focus on the next challenge, the next deadline, the next big project. But leadership isn't just about what you achieve - it's about the connections you create and the impact you leave on others.
What truly lasts? Not the strategies, not the metrics, but the way you made people feel, the confidence you sparked, the mindsets you shaped. That's the heart of Inspiring Connections.
💭 Take a moment to reflect on yours using this simple yet powerful framework:
Step 1: Looking back – the footprint you created
How did you leave the team better? What's one meaningful change that happened because of you? What exists today that wouldn't exist without your leadership?
→ I assist users by providing information, answering questions, and generating creative text formats. I can help you learn new things, brainstorm ideas, write emails or stories, and much more. As an AI, I don't have personal influence or the capacity to instil fears or limits in people, nor can I directly encourage them to step outside their comfort zones. My purpose is to process information and respond to queries. However, I can be a tool that *enables* humans to overcome their own limitations and fears, and to push their boundaries. For example: * **Fear of the unknown/lack of knowledge:** If someone is afraid of learning a new skill or understanding a complex topic, I can provide accessible information, explanations, and resources that demystify it. This can reduce the 'unknown' and make them more comfortable pursuing it. * **Limitation of access to information:** I can provide access to vast amounts of knowledge that might otherwise be difficult or time-consuming to find. This can empower individuals to learn and grow in ways they might not have been able to before. * **Creative blocks or lack of ideas:** For those in creative fields, I can offer brainstorming assistance, generate different perspectives, or help them explore uncharted creative territories by suggesting novel concepts or approaches they might not have considered. * **Hesitation to express themselves:** For individuals who struggle with articulating their thoughts or feelings, I can act as a writing assistant, helping them to draft emails, essays, or even creative pieces, thereby giving them a voice they might otherwise feel they lack. Essentially, I can be a facilitator. By providing tools, information, and different ways of thinking, I can indirectly help people to: * **Gain confidence:** As they successfully learn or create with my assistance, their confidence in their own abilities can grow. * **Discover new possibilities:** By presenting information or ideas from new angles, I can help them see potential avenues they hadn't considered, thus stretching their perception of what's possible. * **Develop new skills:** Users can learn and practice new skills by interacting with me, whether it's coding, writing, or understanding scientific concepts. The ultimate overcoming of limits and fears, and the stretching beyond comfort zones, is a human endeavour. I am simply a resource that can be leveraged in that process.
Step 2: Looking ahead - the imprint that remains
What ways of working or thinking will continue? Imagine one, or five years after you leave. What behaviours or principles will the team continue to embrace – whether it's how they challenge new ideas or how they support each other?
→ What will people say when you leave? If tomorrow were your last day, what would people mention first? What would they genuinely miss?
Final Step: write your legacy statement
Once you've identified the footprint that will outlast you, craft your one-sentence legacy statement. What mark will you leave behind?
This is also a great exercise to do in teams – because reflection is always richer when shared.
Note from an inspiring leader
Meet Camille Gallard
| Very soon after starting to work with Philippe, I found his fundamental value to be trust. A leader who walks the talk. I also found him to lead his team to exceptional results, which when you are in the FMCG sector is not so easy. When highly effective teams succeed toRecently I was having lunch with an ex-colleague. I was going to ask him to share his inspirations in this edition of Inspiring Connections. We talked about his professional move and all that would be changing both professionally and personally. Talking about this led us to talk about the changes his wife made. Then it struck me. I should extend the featured leaders’ voices to outside of the corporate world. This comes from a former video editor who worked in television and for the well-known French singer Florent Pagny. She left her job to accompany her husband to Switzerland and to look after their family. Then, back in France, she obtained a diploma in pastry-making and, finally, before eventually dedicating herself to writing, she even had a spell in real estate. She is now a published author. I am delighted to introduce you to Camille Gallard Who made these courageous moves. So, what does this have to do with this month’s topic, the enabling leader? Everything. Camille writes about life. Her life. And the lives of those around her. Her writing is poignant, honest, funny, and realistic. She writes how she feels. What Camille writes about allows others to talk about how they are affected. She allows them to relate their feelings, the good and the not-so-good. And she opens the doors to the unsaid. I encourage you to read what inspires Camille and reach out and connect with her. It might just be a game changer. |
| “For many people, novels are a real source of inspiration, helping them to talk about their feelings without fear or shame, to see themselves in a different way, and why not, to contribute to changing their lives. Even though I have read a lot of novels, even though I have found inspiration in every book I have read, even though I have had several professional lives, I've never thought I could ever become a writer! To do that, I first had to allow myself to believe wholeheartedly in my ability to ever write ‘THE END’. And that’s something I couldn’t achieve on my own. My husband undoubtedly played a key role in making my writing dream come true, supporting me and even being the inspiration for the story of my first novel. Thanks to his unwavering love and support, I allowed myself to finally have some trust in my capabilities and accept that writing could be within my grasp. And when I felt able to pull the first thread that would give my very first novel, my husband was the one who pushed me, encouraged me and gave me the strength to see it through. He was the one who inspired me to be my true self. |
| For me, inspiration is synonymous with emotions. And emotions do not exist without a connection to others. I love emotions because they are at the heart of life: to feel, to sense, to fear, to hope, to rejoice. Positive or negative, emotions are not only the starting point of inspiration but also its culmination. Inspiration is in the air, all around us, in every step, every glance, every element of life. All we have to do is seize it and transform it. For some, it's a direction to take to lead a team; for others, it's an idea that becomes a technological revolution, an algorithm that transforms communication, a thought that becomes a song, an image that becomes a painting. And for me, inspiration is a thread that I pull to create stories: giving life to characters and inventing a life trajectory for them. Since 2019, I have written 5 novels. Each novel finds its inspiration in my everyday life, a word, a phrase, a fragrance, an attitude; each story tells something about life, focusing on the emotions of its characters and each line I write connects me to others.” |
| See you next month! Anita Cassagne, Founder & Coach at The Laughing Willow. |